Pear and Ginger Crumble

What a lovely winter combination - pear and ginger is a such a comforting duet, warming and sweet.  Ginger can be tricky - an overload can definitely be too much of a good thing.  I think this just hits the spot with the use of crystalized ginger sprinkled in the topping and ground ginger in with the pears.  I resort to crumbles a great deal of the time - they don't require any skill at all, are a wonderful excuse not to bother to make a pie crust and take no time at all.  Not to mention they're delicious.


For the topping.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup oats
6 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
crystalized ginger - 1/2 - 1 tablespoon depending on your taste

For the fruit mixture.

6 ripe pears, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar
Juice and zest of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Sprinkling of all purpose flour

Heat the oven to 375F

Peel and chop the pears and place in a bowl.  Add the rest of the fruit mixture ingredients except the flour.

Toss together and set aside.

To make the topping, mix the dry ingredients together.

Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

At this point, if the fruit mixture looks very liquidy sprinkle a tablespoon of flour over and mix in.  If it looks quite dry just use a teaspoon. 

Pour the fruit mixture into a pie dish and sprinkle the topping over.

Place the pie dish on a baking dish (to catch an juices that may bubble over) and put in the oven. 

Cook for approx 40 - 50 minutes - or until the top is golden and the juices are bubbling around the edge.

Let the crumble rest for 10 minutes or so and then serve with whipped cream, ice cream or custard.